Apparatus for making duplicate phonograph-records.



J W: AEZ'LSWORTH APPARATUS FOR MAKING DUPLICATE PHONOG-RAPH RECORDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1907 mwmw, Pateiliaed May 28, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

E. AYLSWQRTH, AZPARATULS FOB. MAKING DUPLICATE PHUHOGRAPH RECORDS.

2 SHEETE-SHEET 2 Fatented May 28, 1912.

Slill'lllilltlI-IL APPLICATION PILEI) MAR. 12, 1807.

mm'zgwa UNITED STATES PATENT 'OFFIOE.

JONAS W. AYLSWORTH, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW- JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, TO THOMAS A. EDISON, INCORPORATED, OF WEST ORANGE, NEWJERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING mrrmcA'rE rnouoemn-mioonns.

Original application filed May 11, 1906, Serial No. 316,250. Divided andthis application filed 1 1901. Serial No. 361,957.

Speeitlcationo! Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1912. March 12,

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, J onas \V. Arnswon'rn,

a citizen of the. United States, residing at 223 Midland avenue, EastOrange, count-yof 1: Essex, and State of New Jersey, have in ventedcertain'new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Making DuplicatePhonograph-Rccords, of which the following is a description.

This application is a division of United States Letters Patent No.855,605, granted Jute 4., 1907.

My invention relates to improved appara- In the present devclopment ofthe iphonographic art, it'is 'ossible to make matrices or molds which orall practical purposes are mathematically exact negative copies of theorig' lal mast-er records, and several processes have been suggested.and commercially used for obtaining duplicates from these matricesor.m'olds. In apractical duplicating process, itis important that thetemperatures used should not be too high, since the material from whichtherecords are made contains considerable quantities of free stearicacid, which in the presence of a high temperature attacks and roughensthe surface of the mold, even when the latter is protected by anonoxidizing film of gold or nickel. These molds are very expensive andthe slightest roughening is manifested in the reproduction from a recordobtained from the same. Hence, it is important that the temperatureshould be kept in the neighborhood of the melting point of the material,or at best, only a few degrees above the same, in' order that the lifeof the molds ma be prolonged as much as possible. In wor ring with thematerialat relatively low temperatures "another difficulty isencountered,

namely, the formation of air and gas bub- 5o bles, which appear on thesurface of the record. These bubbles are sometimes caused byz'thetrapping of air in the mold, ven

tus for making duplicate phonograph rec- 'cult'y, and some are caused bythe decomposition-of the material in its originalmanufacture, or whenscrap material is re-melted. The low temperature at which the materialis worked makes it more or less viscid, and hence the bubbles do nothave the opportunity of freely escaping, but move sluggishly through themass.

, By my present invention, I am enabled to produce duplicate records ina highly efiicient and economical manner, the material being maintainedin a molten state atnot necessarily more than a few degrees above themelting .point, so as to prevent it from attackingand corroding themold, while at the same time, the operation is such that air and gasbubbles are. effectively, prevented from appearing .on the recordsurface. To.

thisen the inyention consists in the pro- ,vision' of apparatus 'formaking duplicate records by centrifugal force, the mold being rotatedat' a sufiicient-ly high .speed and the as to be forced outwardly anddistributed molten material being introduced therein so evenly aroundtheentire bore ofthe mold,

the mold being-heated to about the'tempen atom of the molten material,so that when the molten material is introduced therein, it willnot chillon the mold, but will retain its fluid state, thereby permittinieitscomplete and uniform distribution to effected and allowing all bubblesto be displaced and forced into or through-the bod of materia-l. Thisforcing of the bubbles inwardly U away from the surface of the recordcan be effected rapidly and perfectly, since the tendency of thematerial to displace the bubbles, (provided the speed of rotation ishighenough) may be made very much more decided than if the bubbles areallowed merely to float to the surface as at the present time.vConsequently, by using centrifugal force, bubbles may be effectivelyforced .back from the record surface even when such bubbles are sominute that their tendency to rise to the surfaceof the material is notsufiic'ient to overcome the natural viscosity of the material. Yet,thesevery minute bubbles which are due todecomposition within thematerial, are prominent enough to seriously affect the character of .thereproduction. Having introduced the molten material in the rapidlyturning mold, so as 1nany different forms of apparatus. Preferably,however, the apparatus is one in which a practically continuous processcan he .carried on, a. succession of molds being at all times undergoingtreatment, so that when, for example, the step of introducing the moltenmaterial into one of the molds, is being carried out, too record will bepractically finished in a previously introcuced mold in which theseveral operations'have been performed, all as I will morofullyhereinafter describe and claim.

' In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Iillustrate a convenient apparatus for the purpose, said apparatus beingsimple in vconstructitm and capable of effective operation by eomparatively unskilled labor. In these drawings Figure 1,"'is a side eleration, partly in section, Fig.2, a crossse'd" tional viewlon the line2+2-ot Fig. 1, Fig.

3, a similar'vie'w on the line 3"3 of'F ig..1;' Fig. 4, ahorizontal'sectional view on, the

line 45 i of Fig. 1, Fig. 5, a longitudinal sectional view of the moldshowing the endplates' in position,-and Fig. 6, an end view of the sameillustrating the removable end ate. In all of the above views,corresponding parts are represented by the same numerals of reference.

Carried by a heavy substantial base 1 are the frames 2-2, rigidlyconnected at their upper ends by a top plate 3. Mounted between theframes 2 are rollers 4.-4, arranged in pairs and independentlyrotatable, so thatthey may turn atany desired 7 speed. These rollers arenot independently driven, but act merely as roller supports for themolds as the latter are 'girotated. The molds are rotated by aseriesrifdriving rollers 55 having preferably rubber or fiberperipheries, so. as to increase the friction on the mold. Thesedrivingrollers are carthe position shown in full lines (Fig. 4) so as toturn in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the molds. Bytskcwing thedriving rollers from their normahposition as shown in dotted lines (Fig.4) the'molds would not only be rotated as desired, but will be movedlongitudinally, asw-ilhbe understood, so as to engage with andbesupported by the success'ive ler rollers 4 4,, n oving in this wayfrom'the left to the right of the machine in Fig. 1.

carried out in many different ways, and in ried by brackets 6.-6 andnormally occupy The skewing ofthe driving rollers is efi'ected by anysuitable mechanism, for instance a rack bar 7, engaging toothed segments8 on the bracket Got each roller and (mt-rated by a handle 9 whereby allthe rollers" will be moved axially. The driving rollers 5 are rotated bysuitable mechanism,

such as bolts 10, engaging pulleys 11, carried by thc driving rollersand'driven by pulleys 12 on the main shaft 13. I illustrate the firsttwo pulleys 12 at the left as being of the same diameter soas to rotatcthe molds at the same speed during the first two stages of theoperation, the succeeding pullevs being of "raduallv reduced dimensions0 h 7 8.

ca ried on arms 15 adapted to be normally pressed up rdly by a spring,16, so as-t'o engage the ioldsj-iwith alight: elastic pres-- sure.Theltroughflet is substantially filled with a loose absorbent material1?, such as -fiberl or'spongel {Coolingwater is admitted to the trough14, through aperforated pipe 18, so ,ns jto always keep the absorbentmatcrial fully."saturated. The inlet'and overflow pipesare'connected byrubber sect-ions 19, so as torpermit the trough to be moved upanddowninto and out of engagement with the molds. The trough 14 moveddownwardly when the rollers are skewed to permitlthe molds to movelongitudinally. This movement may be derived from the rack bar 7 byformmg the. same with cams 20, with which engage rollers on the rods 21,the latter being connected to the pivoted arms 15. ()bvionsly,-.as therack bar 7 is moved to the right to skew the rollers, the trough 1.4will be depressed'so as to withdraw the absorbent material from contactwith the molds. v

The molten material may be contained in av tank 22, heated in anysuitable way as for instance. by a steam coil Mounted in the tank 29. isa'simple Iorm of pump 24., the piston ofwhich is adapted to travel belowan inlet 26, so as to permit the molten material to enter the pumpcylinder above the piston totherebyalways give a definite charge of.material, assuming the level of the. latter, (shown in dotted lines,Fig. 1) to bo constantl-y maintained. The pump 24 is carried on abin-'2'? mounted'to turn in brackets 28 secured to the sides of the tank22. YVhenthe molds are being successively introduced into the machine,the pump is swung rearwardly to occupy an inmanner.

clined position, resting on the stop 29. At

alltimes, it will be observed that the pump cylinder is m )IG or lessimmersed in the molten material, so as to be effectively heated by thesame, and thereby preventing congealing. The discharge of the pumpcomprises a nozzle 30, adapted, when the pump cylinder is in a verticalposition, to enter the mold 31. These molds are of any suitable type andare formed'in any suitable Preferably, they are provided with theordinary end piece aps which thename of the selection is engraved orelectrotyped, and with a removable end piece 33 at the other end, sothat the molten inaterial will be -confined withinethe mold as thelatter rotates. The removable end piece 33 fits the, end of the moldvery snugly, so

i as toprevent leakage of the molten material at this point, andislocked in position in any suitable Way. For instance, I show the same asbeing formed with a series of cams 34, adapted to engage projections 35,formed on the mold, so that by inserting the end piece 33 in position,and giving it a partial turn, it will be. locked frictionally firmly inplace. i

- In the operation of apparatus of this general type, and assuming thetank 22 to contain the'molten material (for instance the compositiondescribed in my Patent No. 782,375 datedFebruary 14,1905) maintained ata temperature from 10' to 25 degrees above its melting point, I proceedas follows :-The handle 9 1s operated so, as to swing the drivingrollers 5 to or toward the position shown in dotted lines (F i 4) andone of the molds 31 being placed 11 the first set of idler rollers 4-4and engaged by the corresponding. driving rollers 5, will by the latterbe turned at the desired high speed and at the same time will be movedlongitudinally to the position shown in Fig. 1. The handle 9 is nowreturned so that the mold will berotatd in this position. The pump-2A isnow swung to its vertical position and the plunger is elevated, carryingthe charge of molten material and, discharging the same into therotating mold, the temperature of which has been reviously heatednp toor preferably slightly a little more than tl'ie'temperatnre of the 1 therecord surface, so as to take a very perfeet impression therefrom.Since-the temperature of the material is somewhat higher than itsmelting point, andsince the mold is-preferably at or about the sametempera;

ture, the material remain's perfectl fluid during the time 'that it isbeing disposed overthe record surface, and consequently ampleopportunity is offered for displacing any bubbles, however minute, andforcing them radially inward. Even if these bubbles dd not entirelyescape tl'n'ough the liq uid material, they are at least driven in fromthe record surface, which will therefore be perfect and tree frombubbles. As

-soon as the charge of material has been delivered to the molds, thepump is swung rcarwardly. The handle 8) is again operated to skew thedriving rollers- 5','and the mold with its charge of material th reinwill be advanced longitudinally so as to be engaged by the seconddriving roller and brought mtoposition over the second set of idlers.

Atthe same time, a new mold is introduced over the first set ofidlersand is filled with material, as explained. with its charge ofinaterialtherein has been thus, advanced from the first section of the machinewhere the filling operation takes When the mold place, it will, whennormally rotated by the successive driving rollers, be engaged by thecooling pad in the troughlt These operations are repeated, the filledmolds pro ressing step by step toward the right of t e machine and beingrotated at successively reduced rates, as the material is graduallycooled and becomes solid. I prefer to dispense with a driving roller inconnection with the last set of idlers, at which point the'material willbe sufiiciently solidified to retain its shape, the mold with itscontents being then removed from the ma chine. The cap 33 is now removedand after the record has been contracted .suf-

ficiently. away from the bore of the mold, it is removed, By alwaysintroducing a fixed and definite charge of material into the mold, thenecessity for reaming the bore of ,the finished duplicate records isdone away with, although this operation can be performed ifeon'sidered'desirable. It will furthermore be seen that by using two endcaps, the duplicate records will he finished at both ends when removedfrom the mold.

' .If it is desired to provide the duplicate records with taperingbores, this may be effected by arranging the idler rollers 'i on anincline or by inclining the entire machine to a sutlicient extent,whereby the material when introduced into th'e mold, will accumulate toa greater extent at the lower end than at the upper end and will set inthis posi tion, after which the bore, if not straight, may be finishedby reaming, era tapering bore may be entirely formed by a reamingoperation,'as will be understood,

Having now described my-mvention, what I I. claim as new and desire tosecure by Let ters Patentis'as follows: v I

1. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combinationvof devices 0 high speed in a substantially continuous r, rotating aplurality of molds at a horizontal series, and for progressing the samethroughout the series, and means for introducing a charge of moltenmaterial in each mold introduced atthe forward end of the series,'whereby the ehafge of material in each mold will be uniformlydistributed therein by centrifugal force and, will be permitted to cooland solidify as the moldsareprogressed lo ngitudinally, substantially asset forth.

2. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combinationof devices for rotating-a plurality of molds at a high speed in asubstantially continuous horizontal series, and for progressing the samethroughout the series, and a pump so arranged that its nozzle may .entereach mold introduced at the forward end of the series, said pump beingeonnectedwith a source of molten material whereby the charge of materialintroduced ineach mold will be uniformly distributed therein bycentrifugal force, and will be permitted to cool and solidify as themolds are progressed longitudinally, substantially as set forth.

3. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combinationof devices for rotating a pluralit of molds at high speed in asubstantially continuous horizontal series, and for progressing the samethroughoutthe series, a-tank for containing the molten material and apump mounted in said tank and whose nozzleis,

arranged to enter each mold introduced at the forward end of the uies,whereby a cl'iarge of molten material inay'be introduced within eachmold immediately after its addition to said series so as to e umformlydistributed therein ,by centrifugal force, and be permitted to cool andsolidify as the molds are progressed longitudinally, substantially asset forth.

4. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combinationwith means for rotating the mold at high speed,

of a tank for containing molten material,

and a' pump pivotally mounted in said tank, and having a nozzle adaptedto be swung 'into position to enter said mold, substan molds so as tosolidify the charges of mate-.

rial'therein as the molds are progressed lon gitudinally,substantiallyas set forth. v t

6. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combinationwith means for rotating the mold at a high speed, of means forintroducing a charge of molten material within the mold, means forapplying cold'to the mold to chill its contents, and

means for successively reducing the speed of rotation of the mold,substantially as set forth. I

7. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records,-the combinationof a pair of idler rollers, a driving roller co operating with the same,means for skewing the driving roller, a mold supported by the idlerrollers and advanced longitudinally by the driving roller, and means forint-roducing a charge of molten material to the rotating mold,substantially as set forth.

In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combination ofa series of pairs of idler rollers, a series of driving rollerscotiperating with the same, a series of molds supported'by the idlerrollers, and driven by the driving rollers, means for causing thedriving rolls to advance the.

molds successively with respect to the idler rollers, and means forintroducing charges of molten material into the successive molds,

substantially as set forth.

9. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, the combinationof successive pairs of idler rollers, a series of driving rollerscoiiperating with the same,

a series of molds supported by the idler rollers and driven by therespective'driving rollers, means for introducing charges of moltenmaterial successively to the said molds, and means for cooling the moldsafter material has been introduced therein, substantiallyas set forth. I

10. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, thecombination of successive pairs of idler rollers, a series of drivingrollers arranged to be swung pivotally and eotiperating with the idlers,a series of molds carried by the idler rollers and rotated and advancedlongitudinally by the driving rollers, and means for introducing chargesof molten material successively to said molds, substantially as setforth.

11. In apparatus for niakingduplicate phonograph records, thecombination of successive pairs of idler rollers, a series of drivingrollers arranged to be swungpivotally and coiiperating with the idlers,a series of molds carried by the idler rollers and rt tatedand advancedlongitudinally by'the driving rollers, means for introducing charges ofmolten material successively to saidmolds, and means for cooling themolds after the introduction of the molten mate; rial therein,substantially as set forth.

12. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, thecombination of a pair of idler rollers, a driving roller 00- operatingwith the same, a mold supported by the idler rollers and rotated by thedriving' roller, means for moving the driving roller pivotally so as toadvance the mold longitudinally, means for normally applymg cold to therotating mold, and means for withdrawing the cooling media therefromwhen the driving roller is moved pivotally, substantially as set forth.

13. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, thecombination of apair of idler rollers, a pivotally mounted drivingroller cooperating with the same, a mold supported by the idler rollersand r0- taied by the driving roller, a cooling pad normally in contactwilh'said mold, and

= means for simultaneously skewing the driving roller and withdrawingsaid pad from the mold, substantially as set forth.

14. In apparatus for making duplicate phonograph records, thecombination of apair of idler rollers, a driving roller cooperating withthe same, a mold supported by the idler rollers and rotated by thedriving roller, and a pivotally mounted pump normally moved away fromthe mold but adapted to be moved to a position where the pump nozzlewill enter the mold,subst-antially as'set forth.

15. A coreless cylindrical mold for the production of duplicatephonograph reeords, having a plurality of fixed stops at one end thereofand provided with a. fixed. end plate and a ren'iovahle end plate, thelatter having a series of cams thereon for engaging the stops on themold, whereby the removable end plate may be locked frictionally inposition, substantially as set forth. 4 This specification signed andwitnessed this 9th day of March 1907. I

JONAS W; a LsWoRTn.

Witnesses: 1

FRANK I). LEWIS, FRANK L; Dawn.

